True Detective: How to watch the new ‘scary as hell’ season 4

Jodie Foster leads new season, which comes after an impressive five-year hiatus

True Detective is back with its long-awaited fourth season after an impressive five-year hiatus.

The new installment of the popular HBO anthology – formally titled True Detectives: Night Country this season – is co-led by Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as a pair of detectives in search of eight Alaskan scientists who’ve vanished without a trace.

This marks the Oscar-winning Foster’s first leading role in a TV series as an adult. The Taxi Driver star, 61, is better known for acting in films, including her latest sports biopic Nyad, opposite Annette Bening.

Night Country will premiere its first of six episodes on Sunday (14 January) at 9pm ET/PT on Max in the US, followed by new episodes each week.

Early critics’ reviews have already begun rolling in ahead of its forthcoming premiere, and they appear to be overwhelmingly positive.

“True Detective is back, baby and this time it's a full-fledged horror show,” tweeted Inverse’s Hoai-Tran Bui. “Season 4 is the best season since the first, and Jodie Foster gives a performance so steely she could cut armor. Chilling, evocative & so good.”

Fangoria Magazine contributor Scott Wampler agreed, writing that the new season is “an absolute knockout from start to finish”.

“Also? Scary as hell. Jodie Foster’s excellent, Kali Reis is a goddamn revelation, and Issa Lopez’s phone is about to be ringing off the hook. Get hyped, friends,” Wampler added.

Vicky Jessop singled out Foster’s performance, calling it “predictably superb” in her four-star review for The Evening Standard.

Rolling Stone TV Critic, Alan Sepinwall, praised it as “must-see TV” in his review.

The fourth season comes almost exactly 10 years after the detective show released its first Emmy-winning season in 2014. Leads Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson received Emmy nominations for their performances as detectives Rust Cohle and Martin Hart respectively.

In 2015, it released its second season, a critical flop starring Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams, Vince Vaughn and Taylor Kitsch. Then, it returned with a strong season three in 2019, welcoming Mahershala Ali and Stephen Dorff as its leads.

Season four sits at a perfect critical rating score of 100 per cent on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing.

True Detective: Night Country will premiere its first of six episodes on Sunday (14 January) at 9pm ET/PT on Max in the US, followed by new episodes each week. UK viewers will be able to watch episodes on Sky Atlantic/NOW the following Mondays.